What I'm reading

I just received a new book from Amazon on Friday and I've been poring over it since. It's called Family Feasts for $75 a Week, by Mary Ostyn. Mary is a mother of 10 and still manages to feed her family on a small budget. The book is chock-full of recipes (some of which we will be trying this week!), as well as many ideas about how to shrink your grocery bill.

I'm pretty frugal, so I realized I have already been using many of her tips, but the book goes further. She includes simple recipes for things like pancake mix and salad dressings, as well as ways to quicken dinner prep. One of my favorite suggestions is to have a "lunchbox party" on Sundays - a time to involve all the kids in prepping lunches for the coming week. One child fills baggies with carrot sticks, one child makes sandwiches etc. We did a modified version yesterday and I plan to go full tilt next week. Making lunches at 9:00 p.m. is one of my most dreaded chores, so I will throughly enjoy a way to lessen that task.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book, even if your family isn't quite as large as Mary's. I promise it will help you streamline your kitchen and save you money in the process. If you're interested in reading Mary's blog (I have read it for a year or two), check it out at www.owlhaven.net.